Stay and Eat

Larks and Lemons
Larks & Lemons, 1982

“But, unlike a cloud, it nourishes.” (Sylvia Townsend Warner)

(Note: If you can’t stand gore, you may want to skip this one.)

Once you’ve gotten the biscuit making down, so that they rise high and light as summer clouds, you can try another of Cebah’s dishes, one that can turn people into foxes.

Like most super-simple dishes it takes skill, attention, and the very best ingredients. Chicken and dumplings are something you might see on a southern menu, but I wouldn’t order them. Some things that are called chicken and dumplings turn out to be chicken and bloated noodles, which I suppose you would have to have eaten as a child to keep a yen for them into adulthood. If the dumplings are not so light and fluffly that they melt instantly on the tongue, you need to call this something else.

To make the chicken part, take a chicken... (And once again this is where raising your own chickens makes a big difference. If you do that, you’ll need to remove their head, and some of their other assets. If you’re wondering how Cebah does it, here goes: Take the chicken, (For chicken and dumplings you can use an older hen, or a rooster.) by the legs and hold their head down on the ground. Place a sturdy rod of some sort, say an axe or a hoe handle, over their neck and press it down firmly with your feet, one on either side of the chicken’s head. Now give a good swift pull and the chicken, sans head, should be in your hands quickly and easily. The head will remain on the ground. Toss the chicken body down as well, because the wings and legs will continue to move for a bit with great vigor, and blood tends to get strewn about as a result. The headless body may even bolt about the yard, but not for long.

Next the feathers need to go. Put the chicken in a dishpan and pour a big kettle of bowling water over it, to scald all the feathers and make them easy to pluck. Then do the plucking. There will be some small pin-feathers that are difficult to snag with your fingers. Take a sheet or two of a good newspaper, if you have one, and twist it into a long torch. Light the paper and pass it quickly over the chicken’s body to singe off the remaining feathers.

Now, open the body cavity of the chicken with your butcher knife, starting at the rear, and remove everything inside. Save the liver, the heart, and gizzard, if you like them, and you should. The gizzard must be split and the contents of the craw, (little gravels and the last meal,) removed to prepare it for cooking. Cut off the feet and neck and you’ve got a chicken good to go. Put the chicken and parts you’re planning to eat into a pan of salted water and head back into the kitchen.

…chicken and dumplings; right. Put the chicken in a cooking pot not too much larger than the fowl. Just cover it with water and bring it to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer the chicken until the meat is ready to fall from the bones. Remove the chicken to a platter and roll out your dough as for biscuits. Taste the cooking broth and salt it to your taste. It should be a bit lighter than a soup stock. The dumplings will thicken and enrich the broth slightly, so it needn’t be too strong or rich. It should be perfectly seasoned though, so taste it and salt accordingly.

When I asked Cebah if she put anything else in the broth she said,“Well sometimes I might put some celery tops (chopped) in it.” -but she said that as though it were a mere gesture, perhaps more about finding a purpose for celery tops than a meaningful addition.

At this point you need to have your table under control; all the eaters need to be in the house and ready to be called. The window of dumpling opportunity is narrow and after a moment no plump dumpling passes through it. Raise the tempertature under your cooking broth to a hard fast boil. Cut the dumplings with a sharp knife into rectangles, two by two & 1/2" , and lower them gently, but quickly, one at a time, into the broth. The dumplings will fluff and rise to the top, gently give them a turn with a spoon until they are all done. This will not take long, maybe five minutes at the most. Carefully pour the dumplings and their now thickened broth into a large serving bowl and give them a good grind of black pepper.

Serve them with the chicken, a salad, maybe fresh peas, carrots, or sweet potatos, and iced tea. Then dessert. With coffee.

Cebah’s Coconut Cream Pie:

Mix 5 tablespoons of flour with a cup of sugar, add it to a saucepan with a cup each of milk and coconut milk. Beat three egg yolks (reserve the whites) and add to the pan, stirring constantly over medium heat until thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in two tablespoons of butter. Add one cup of sweetened flake coconut, cool completely and pour into a baked pie-crust. Beat the egg whites until foamy and add a pinch of cream of tarter – continue beating until soft peaks form, then add 5 tablespoons of sugar and a half teaspoon of vanilla, and beat to stiff peaks. Pile the meringue on top the pie and bake in a 375o oven till lightly browned.

Saffron Shortbread:

(Cebah really likes this recipe of mine, so here goes)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees

In a mixing bowl mix together with your fingers; two cups of flour, 2/3 cup sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon of saffron threads, crushed, and two sticks of unsalted butter. Sprinkle on a teaspoon of orange flower water, if you have it, and pat it into an eight-inch-square baking pan. Bake until barely golden on top, about 50 minutes. Cut into squares while still warm, let cool and serve. You can substitute a teaspoon of matcha, (powdered green tea for the Tea Ceremony) for the saffron, or vanilla, if it comes to that. OR… how about a teaspoon of cardamon and the grated rind of a lemon?

Tomato Soup:

After any discombobulating or extreme experience, resulting in overexcited or overextended senses; not enough of or too much of anything, such as liquor, visitors, or love, even, or just bad weather; you might want to try Cebah’s simple and rejubulating soup. It will make you feel better.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a quart pan, add 2 of flour and cook until golden on medium heat, stirring all the while. Add 3 cups of whole milk, turn up the heat , and stir until it comes to boil, then remove the pan from the heat.
In another saucepan bring 3 cups of home-canned or fresh peeled tomatos to a boil. Break them up with a fork into bite-size pieces. Add a pinch of baking soda and remove from the heat. Add the tomatos to the thickened milk, with salt and pepper to taste. Reheat and serve.

I like to puree the tomatos in a blender if I’m making this as a restorative, since there are enough lumps in life already.

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